Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-312329 discloses a vehicle seat reclining device that includes a portion affixed to the vehicle body, which cooperates with a locking device affixed to a tiltable seatback of a vehicle seat so as to permit the seatback to be selectively locked in a stepwise manner in a series of tilted positions. The vehicle seat reclining device comprises a rail, a slider and a latch mechanism.
The rail extends along a central axial line and is affixed to the vehicle body. The rail is curved so as to follow or be aligned with a curved path traced in space by the locking device as the backrest tilts. The slider is slidably attached to the rail and includes a striker that is engageable with the locking device. The latch mechanism is provided between the rail and the slider so as to selectively prevent and permit sliding of the slider along the rail.
More particularly, the latch mechanism includes a plurality of latch holes formed in the rail and aligned along the central axial line, a slider hole penetrating through the slider so as to face and be alignable with each of the respective latch holes, a support portion provided on the slider, and a lever supported on the support portion so as to be pivotable about a pivot shaft that is substantially parallel to the central axial line. A latch claw is disposed on a tip end of the lever and is engageable with the respective latch holes via the slider hole.
In the known vehicle seat reclining device having the above-described configuration, the latch mechanism can be operated so as to disengage the latch claw from the respective latch holes, thereby enabling a change of the tilted position of the backrest by sliding the slider along the rail. The backrest can then be fixed at a desired tilted position by engaging the latch claw with the corresponding latch hole.